My Parents

The title itself carries three possible readings: the most boring interpretation is simply the first two words of the poem; but “my parents” can also imply responsibility, meaning my parents are to blame for this; and the poem reads as though addressed to his parents directly, explaining the damage their protection caused. The verb “kept” is charged: it implies the speaker wanted to be with the rough boys and was held back against his will. Protection shades into captivity. The word “rough” implies not only danger but also class prejudice, establishing a divide between the speaker and the other boys.

The simile "threw words like stones" equates verbal abuse with physical violence, showing that emotional harm is just as damaging. “Torn clothes” signals poverty, reinforcing class difference.

The boys are associated with movement and freedom through active verbs. Despite their poverty, they possess physical confidence and vitality, suggesting the speaker both fears and envies their lifestyle.

The simile “muscles like iron” emphasizes strength and toughness. The exaggeration of fearing them “more than tigers” is worth examining: “feared” here carries a dual meaning: it is not simply terror but deep reverence, almost awe. The speaker does not merely dread the rough boys; he is genuinely impressed by them. This is why the poem is not simply a tale of bullying but something more conflicted.

This line conveys physical domination. The boys overpower the speaker, making the bullying tangible and traumatic rather than abstract.

The metaphor "salt coarse pointing" makes mockery feel abrasive and painful, like salt on a wound. It transforms emotional harm into something physically felt.

The imitation of his speech highlights vulnerability. The bullying targets something intrinsic to his identity, intensifying humiliation and isolation.

The simile “like dogs to bark at my world” presents the boys as animalistic and territorial. “My world” is a metaphor for his social class and the sheltered life his parents built around him, and the rough boys spring out from behind it to challenge its very existence. The boys are “behind him on the road” in the metaphorical sense too: the metaphor of the “road” for life suggests the speaker is further ahead socially and economically, while the rough boys are left behind. Their aggression is partly the anger of those who have been overtaken.

The speaker’s reaction reveals passivity and coping. “Pretending to smile” suggests suppression of pain, highlighting emotional restraint and internalized fear.

The final line carries a deliberate ambiguity. "They never smiled": who is "they"? The most natural reading is the rough boys, whose refusal to smile prevents reconciliation. But on a second reading, "they" could refer to the speaker's parents, who never smiled at the rough boys either, never acknowledged their humanity, and whose own coldness toward the other class perpetuated the divide. The speaker cannot forgive what he was never given the chance to resolve.